KateAndDally

Signs of the Apocalypse

According to authorities, it's not yet clear if this was consensual or accidental...

Relaxing at home...

...Reading the Business Week powerpoint The Failure of the Internet Decade, which apparently Explains It All to us.

(Someone, as you can see, has her pacifier in case things get hairy.  As it were.)

It Snowed Here Last Night...

...You might have heard about it...so schools are closed and my work is closed, although UO is slogging away at his laptop.  He has authorized me to say he is beetling away at "awesome spreadsheets." 

Here's the view from our sidewalk:
Why can't it always look this nice?  and here's UO's car, the awesome Camry:
And last but never least, here are Kate and The Littlest Offering with her (invisible) friend E, sledding in our backyard:
I am lucky this picture turned out at all...it  was so glary outside I could hardly see the viewfinder.  TLO sees me taking pictures and says, "Oh, great, she's going to blog us to death!" 

Well, yes.  And your point, Little Miss I-Know-People?

Kit, the Well-Traveled Hamster

Kit, the Hammie with Happy Feet, escaped yet again at the end of last week.  See, she runs on her wheel, which vibrates, setting the Girl Scout Brownie manual we have on top of her cage (to block the gaps around the top hatch) sliding right off.  As UO said, that's one #@#$%^%$ smart hamster.

Anyway, we made a cursory examination of TLO's room but of course didn't find anything.  I assumed that like last time, she'd turn up over the next couple of evenings, and she did in typically dramatic fashion.

I had made my annual evening check up of TLO's room at about 10 last night -- TLO was snoring away, but no Kit in sight -- when UO screamed from the bathroom.  Yes, screamed just like a girl.  I could hear him -- um, how to put this delicately -- using the toilet, so for a minute I flashed on all the things that could go wrong with middle-aged urination.  Peeing blood?  Odd penile behavior?  (That's a broad subject, that is.)

"What?"  I yelled back.

"COME GET YOUR HAMSTER!" 

Oh.

And there she was, sitting up on her hind paws amongst the laundry scattered on the bathroom floor, clearly wondering what all the fuss was about.

Right now she's running on her wheel again, but I've outmaneuvered her, yes I have: there's a large, heavy cereal bowl sitting on top of the girl scout manual.  HAH!  Take that, oh happy footed hamster!

Delaying Gratification

Well, we didn't get Darcy.

We would have -- we liked her -- she's had a rotten time and needs lots of love and attention, and she liked us and Kate too -- but she had bonded with another dog at the shelter, and he needed a companion dog in his new home, so Darcy was it.  She'll have a good home, and that's all that matters.

But as UO said, it's galling -- it's one thing to have lost her to people who wanted her for herself, as we did; these folks just wanted her as a freebie of sorts.

However, one depressing thing my research has turned up -- there are lots and lots of border collies out there that need rescuing.  Duh -- lots and lots of dogs, never mind BCs.  It's just the breed we know the best.  So we'll find the right one for us.  And as long as they go to good homes, I don't really care (much) how often we lose out.

I Hate Our Culture...

So at some point over the weekend, The Littlest Offering tells me she heard Chris Brown beat up Rihanna because "Rihanna gave Chris Brown herpes."

How do you know this?  I asked.

I know people, she said.

So we had a discussion about herpes ("Do you know what herpes is?"  "No."  "It's a disease that will never kill you, but it can make your life pretty miserable.  But still, it's no excuse for beating someone up.") and about gossip and about violence against people weaker than you.

Thank you, Chris Brown, for that teachable moment.  I hate your guts.

We Has Our Priorities

Kate just threw up in the hallway, which reminded me of our finance directpr's complaint about his Labrador.  "Why," he asked resignedly, "do they run AWAY from the hardwood floors when they puke and ONTO  the wall-to-wall carpet?"

Why, indeed.

Quick: Who am I?

first correct answer gets... well, nothing.  But good luck anyway!

...But They DO Take Pictures of their Dogs...

UO and Offering Boy got an Xbox tonight while TLO and I were Watoto-ing...Now OB has been sent to bed and UO is hammering away on "Conan."  Kate sits next to him exhausted from the dog park and overwhelmed by the noise.

Speaking of Kate, here are two new pix:

And,

I love the way her fuzzies show up!  All gossamer and sparkly, like she's some fairy dog!

Episcopalians Just Don't Do Stuff like This...

Today The Littlest Offering and I went to hear the Watoto Children's Choir at our church...Watoto is a charity based in Uganda and provides living, schooling and medical assistance to kids orphaned by AIDS.  While I can't criticize the mission or the need, the event did rather seem like an hour spent with an African "Up With People"

The choir was great, the energy incredible -- they were dancin' in the aisles (and you know Episcopalians just don't do that), as you can see.